Suturing instrument.



No. 7|5,42s Patented Dec. 9, I902.

a. some.

SUTURING INSTRUMENT.

(Applicatiun filed Oct. 31, 1901.\

(H0 Model.)

UNITED STATES 3 PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID SCHISGAL, OF VERNON, FRANCE.

SUTU RING INSTRUM ENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters latent No. 715,426, dated December9, 1902. Application filed October 31, 1901- Serial No. 80,629. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID SCHISGAL, a citizen of the Republic of France,and a resident of Vernon, 19 Rue St. Louis, Euro, France, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Surgical and LikeInstruments, of which the following is a specification. I

When a surgeon uses a needle for efiecting the sewing up of Wounds, heis obliged to pinch tightly together the two edges of the wound betweenthe fingers of his left hand in order to hold each part in position anddrive the needle through. He must necessarily employ a certain amount offorce for this purpose, which makes the needle liable to rise and moreoften slip over it, producing only a slight tear and unnecessarysufiiering. When the needle has-been driven through, the surgeon opensone of the sides of the eye of the needle to introduce the silver orother thread, closes the eye again, and draws theneedle in the oppositedirection; but then the thread passed through the needle forms at eachside a projection larger than the hole of the puncture, and consequentlythe thread in passing through tears the flesh and causes pain. Howeverskillful the operator is the suture is always slow, painful to thepatient, and difficult for the surgeon. In order to remedy theseinconveniences, I have invented a new kind of pincers-needle with whichthe operator acts with certitude and the person being operated upon onlyfeels the slight pain caused by the successive necessary insertions ofthe needle.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood, reference is madeto the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is an elevation of theimproved sewing instrument with the shanks closed. Fig. 2 is a plan viewof Fig. 3, and Fig. 3 is a View of the device with the shanks open.

The apparatus consists of a pincers or clip device having two flexibleshanks a and 1), formed of springs and arranged in such a manner thatthe. shanks constantly tend to separate from each other, as representedin Fig. 3. The ends of these two shanks are conveniently bent and crosseach other and form an angle at their free ends, so that the two endsare superposed and rest one on the arms.

other when the device is in its normal position, Fig. 3. The shank b isfurnished at its end with a hollow needle 0, which can, if desired, beremoved, while the other shank a is provided at its end with an openslot (1, in which the needle 0. enters.

To effect a suture with this instrument, the operator takes hold of oneof the parts of the wound in order to lift it, but without pressing itbetween his fingers. Then he presses together the spring-arms a and b ofthe instrument, their ends consequently opening, as represented clearlyin Fig. 1. He then places the edge of the wound between the ends of theinstrument, or, rather, between the end of the needle 0 and the end ofthe shank a, and when the apparatus is in the required position hereleases the spring-arms u, and b. I The free ends of the spring-armsnowapproacheachotherautomatically. The needle 0 passes through the edgeof the wound without making unnecessary punctures and without risk ofslipping on the surface, as itacts surely and is efficiently guided,owing to its firm connection with one of the two spring- The silver orother thread e employed is then drawn through the hollow needle and bythe same action drawn through the interior of the hole made by theneedle in the edge of the wound. The operator bends the thread back onthe edge, as represented in Fig. 3, and it only remains for him to againpress the spring-arms d and b of the instru ment in order to open theirextre1nities,thereby drawing the needle from the flesh. The thread,stopped by its end being bent, naturally stays in the hole made for it.In oper' ating thus along the whole length of the wound the suture iseasily effected with socurity and rapidity and without causing anyunnecessary tearings of the flesh orincisions, and consequently with a.minimum amount of pain to the patient. It must also be remarked that theshank h is conveniently bent at its end to allow the operator to makethe incision more or less near the edge of the wound.

It is evident that instead of eifecting the suture by drawing the threadseparately through each side of the wound the latter can in certaincases be drawn together and the thread drawn through both edges at thesame time. Lastly, at the part where the needle 0 is fixed to its shankb I propose to provide a hollow cavity f, which will permit theintroduction of the end of a syringe for the purpose of introducing anantiseptic liquid into the needle 0.

From the foregoing it can be seen that by the use of the improvedinstrument the inconveniences connected with the needles now in use areentirely avoided. It must finally be observed that other uses for theapparatus than surgical ones will present themselves.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

A pincers-needle for making surgical sutures, comprising two membersadapted to cross each other, joined together at one end and resting uponeach other at the other end owing to their elasticity, one of saidmembers being provided at its end with a hollow needle for the passageof the thread for making the suture and the corresponding end of theother member being provided with an open slot for the passage of saidneedle and the withdrawal of the thread, substantially as set forth.

Signed at Paris, France, this 18th day of October, 1901.

DAVID SCHISGAL [L. s] Witnesses:

J. ALLISON BOWEN, PAUL BARAUD.

